Understanding Linux Load Average – Part 1

A frequently asked question in my classroom is “What is the meaning of load average and when is it too high?”. This may sound like an easy question, and I really thought it was, but recently I discovered that things aren’t always that easy as they seem. In this first of a three-part post I will explain what the meaning of Linux load average is and how to diagnose load averages that may seem too high.

Obtaining the current load average is very simple by issuing the uptime command:

But what is the meaning of these 3 numbers? Basically load average is the run-queue utilization averaged over the last minute, the last 5 minutes and the last 15 minutes. The run-queue is a list of processes waiting for a resource to become available inside the Linux operating system. The example above indicates that on average there were 10.52 processes waiting…